Belt link



May 7, 1946.7 J. F. BARNES BELT LINK Filed Aug. 15, :LSI-1l Patented May7, 1946 BELT LINK James F. Barnes, Chicago, Ill., assgnor to James F.Barnes, trustee Application August 15, 1941, Serial No. 407,082

(c1. sea-85) 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a belt link and more particularly to a linkadapted to be releasably secured to similar links to form a part of anendless belt.

An object of the invention is to provide a belt link which may be madeof a resinous material or the like and possesses no overlying oroverlapping parts. By reason of the structure being free of overlyingand overlapping parts the link may be made by a single molding orpressing operation. Another object is to provide a link having a bodyportion which is adapted to be releasably secured to the leg portion ofan adjacent link and a leg portion adapted to be releasably secured tothe adjacent body of another link. Still another object is to provide anend less belt composed of a plurality of identical links, the body ofone link being secured to the legs of the next link. Yet another objectis to provide a belt in which a plurality of links may he engaged anddisengaged from each other at will without turning any of the links atan angle substantially out of the plane of the belt.

Another object of the invention is to provide a link of resilientmaterial equipped with legs which may be sprung or distorted andarranged irrinterlocking relation with the body portion of another linkA further object is to provide a link structure equippedwith parts whichare adapted to be interlocked with similar parts in another link and inwhich a pair of resilient legs are arranged to be sprung towards eachother to permit their insertion in the coupling portion of the body ofan adjacent link. y

Other features and advantages will appear from the followingspecification and drawing, in which- Figure l is a side elevational viewof a link secured at both ends to similar links; Fig. 2 is a bottom Viewof the link similarly arranged; Fig. 3 isa longitudinal sectional viewtaken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofthe link.

In the embodiment of the invention described herein the link Ill isequipped with a body portion lI and with a leg portion containing a pairof legs I2 and I3. The link I0 is preferably an integral structure whichmay be made of any suitable material. The material may be a synthetic ornatural resin or other plastic or, if desired, it may be metallic orcellulosic in character.

The body portion II includes a iiat base I4 rounded at one end I5. Thesides of the base I4 extend downwardly to form railsV I5 and I1. At theend of each of the rails or sides I5 and I'I are lateral projections I8and I9 extending inwardly towards veach other. The projections I8 and I9form the anges 20 and 2l which are right-angularly disposed with respectto the rails I6 and I'I respectively.

jections 22 and 23 provide side walls 29 and 36' respectively.

The projections I8 and I9 and projections 22 and 23 provide a couplingmeans which with tho base Ill and rails I6 and I'I of the body portionform a space for releasably receiving theleg of an adjacent link.

The legs I2 and I3 extend from the body portion II in spaced parallelrelation and are provided with end portions 3l and 32 which are slightlydepending with. respect Yto the portion of the leg extending from thebody portion II. The uppersurface of each of the legs is provided with acut away portion 33.

The end portions 3l and 32 of the legs I2 and I3 are equipped withlaterally extending outward projections 34 and 35 respectively, theprojections 34 and 35 forming right angular flanges 35 and 3'!respectively with the side walls of the legs. The projections34 and 35are provided with rounded outer surfaces 38 and 3S.

The rails I6 and I'I extend along the legs t2 and I3 and are preferablyintegrally secured thereto. The rails thus provide a flange constructionwhich strengthens the main portion of each of the legs. The ends of therails are provided with cut away portions 40 which are adapted toreceive the rounded projections of the body of the next adjacent link.

As seen in Figs. 1 to 3, the body portion II of the link may be securedto the legs 4I and 42 of the next adjacent link. The legs I2 and I3 onthe other hand, are secured to the body 43 of another adjacent link.

The legs I2` and I3 of the link are preferably sufficiently resilient topermit them to be sprung or distorted inwardly towards each other andthus inserted in the coupling portion of the body 43 of the nextadjacent link. The rails I5 and II which are integrally secured to thelegs should be of the same material.

When the links are to be assembled to form towards each other byexerting pressure on the l outsides of the rails I1 and I6. The endportions 3l and 32, of the legs I 2 and I3, carrying the projections 3dand 35 are then inserted between the wings and -45 of the next adjacentlink, with the legs I2 and I3 passing over the projections 22a and 23a.

The projections 34 and 35 while the legs l2 and I3 are sprung are passedbetween the upper portions of the projections I8a and lea of the body 43of the next adjacent link. When the legs l2 and I3 have been soinserted, the pressure upon them may be released in order that they mayspring outwardly to their normal position. The M ilanges 36 and 3'I willthen engage the anges a and 2Ia of the wings 44 and 45 respectively andthus will prevent longitudinal separation of the two links with respectto each other, the recesses 40 in the legs I2 and I3 receive the roundedportions a and 26a of the body 43 of the next adjacent link and preventlongitudinal movement of the links towards each other. The outer sidesof the ends 3I and 32 of the legs I2 and I3 will engage the walls 21aand 28a to prevent movement of the links with respect to each other in ahorizontal plane. The projections 46 and 4l underlie the legs I2 and I3and prevent downward movement thereof. Similarly, the pojections 34 and35 underlie the body por-v tion 43 and engage the same.

The lbody portion II is releasably secured in a similar manner to thelegs 4l and 42 of another adjacent link.

When it is desired to disengage any of the links it is necessary only topress inwardly on the rails I5 'and I'I to spring the legs 3| and 32towards each other and then withdraw them from the coupling portion ofthe body of the next adjacent link as formed by the extending wingsthereof.

With this link construction, a structure is pro? vided which is free ofoverlapping and overlying parts. No portion of the link overlies oroverlaps another portion of the same link. In other words, a centrallongitudinal axis drawn continuously through each of the parts of thelink does not at any time turn more than 90 with respect to the portionof the axis passing through the body cf the link.

While there are shown and described certain embodiments of theinvention, it is understood that it is capable of many modifications.Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement of the variousparts and in the materials specified may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as proposed in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A link adapted to be releasably securedto similar links to form apart of an endless belt comprising, a body portion having a lateralprojection vertically spaced therefrom and providing with said bodyportion a space for receiving the leg of an adjacent link therebetween,said projection being also longitudinally spaced from said body portion,and a leg portion having a lateral projection adapted to underlie theadjacent body of another link, and interlocking means on said bodyportion andv said leg portion for securing the same to the legs and bodyrespectively of adjacent links the entire link being free of overlappingand overlying parts.

2. A link adapted to be releasably secured to similar links to form apart of an endless belt comprising, a body portion equipped withcoupling means providing with said body portion a space for releasablyreceiving the leg of an adjacent link, said body portion being providedwith a lateral projection for underlying said leg, a pair of spaced legsintegrally formed with said body portion and equipped with means forreleasably receiving the adjacent body of another link, said legs beingprovided with lateral projections for underlying the adjacent body ofthe link to which the legs are joined, the outer sides of said legsbeing normally spaced apart by a distance greater than the width of saidspace and said legs being of a slightly resilient material whereby theymay be sprung inwardly for insertion in the body of the adjacent link,and ilanges on said body portion and on the legs adapted to engage ininterlocking relation the legs and body respectively of adjacent linksto prevent longitudinal movement of the links with respect to eachother, the entire link being free of overlapping and overlying' parts.

3. In an endless belt, a plurality of identical links secured togetherin interlocking relation, each of the links having a body portionequipped with means for releasably receiving the leg of an adjacentlink, said body portion being provided with a lateral projectionvertically spaced from said body portion and providing therewith a spacefor receiving the leg of said adjacent link, and a leg portion integralwith said body portion and equipped with means for releasably receivingthe adjacent body of another link, said leg' portion being provided witha lateral projection for underlying the adjacent body of another link,and flanges on said body portion and said leg portion adapted to engagein interlocking'relation the legs and body respectively of adjacentlinks to prevent longitudinal movement of the links with respect to eachother.

4. A link adapted to be releasably secured to identical links to form apart of an endless belt, comprising a body portion equipped with spacedside walls and inwardly-extending spaced lateral projections on saidside walls forming a coupling member adapted to be interlocked with thelegs of an adjacent link, said projections being vertically andlongitudinally spaced from said body portion, and spaced legs ofslightly resilient material extending from said body portion andintegral therewith, said legs being equipped with substantially-rigidoutwardly-extending lateral projections adapted to be interlocked withthe coupling member of an adjacent link, the entire link being free ofoverlying and overlapping parts.

5.A`link adapted to be releasably secured to identical links to form apart of an endless belt, comprising a body portion equipped with spacedside walls and inwardly-extending spaced lateral projections, the'bodyportion, side walls and lateral projections forming a coupling memberproviding a space for releasably receiving the legs of an adjacent link,said projections being adapted to engage in interlocking relation thelegs of an adjacent link, and a pair of spaced legs extending from saidbody portion and integral therewith and equipped withoutwardly-extending projections for engaging in interlocking relationthe coupling member of another adjacent link, the outer surfaces of saidlegs being normally spaced apart by a distance slightly greater than thewidth of the space provided by said coupling member, said legs being ofslightly resilient material whereby they may be sprung inwardly forinsertion in the space in the coupling member of the adjacent link.

JAMES F. BARNES.

